They consider ME undesirable as a resident, because I write. Not YOU.

You won't have the same problems that I'm having with the board. The property manager and board of directors bully and harass me only because I am an educated, intelligent, articulate, WOMAN who has good business sense. They feel that women should stay home and be mothers; or if they must work, it should be only as a domestic so they don't take jobs away from men. I've been ridiculed for owning a computer, and told I must take down my web site because it is forbidden for me to own an Internet business. Seriously. They put it in writing!

The board only hates ME. They don't like women writers and have forbidden me to write books on my computer in my own home, earn an income by selling books online and even owning a web site. They wrote me a Cease and Desist letter. They have deprived me of 100% of my income for the past 9 months. And when I try to stand up for my rights they make life more difficult for me. They have deprived me of my rights under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the federal constitution. The noise is their attempt to keep me from having quiet in order to write. (So childish.)

The noise I spoke of is to keep me from writing and to make selling my unit difficult. When I leave, they will stop. They won't harass anyone else. Upstairs they are painting, just as I am, so the banging and hammering is completely unneccessary. They are just making noise to make noise. It's OK to have a noisy wood-working shop in your unit, but typing on a computer keyboard is too noisy. (That's sarcasm.)

There are many retired people who own and some young families and singles who rent. They like people who have jobs outside the building, and who stay home and live on government assistance, permanent disabiity, or pensions. Many retired residents worked at the General Motors plant, many have less than a high school diploma, Some didn't finish grade school. So a woman who writes books and has a university degree in business is held in contempt. (I haven't told them I studied at Oxford, that would really irk them.)

I went through 8 years of this bullying and harassment back in Pennsylvania before I moved to St. Catharines, so I've endured 10 full years of this. In Toronto I was treated like a celebrity, quoted often in the business press and appearing frequently on talk radio and national TV as an expert. Hence my desire to hit the road and meet people who celebrate intelligence, wisdom and integrity and who don't try to oppress bright people who think and write.

The board has been slow about doing important repairs - they even created an eyesore on my balcony to discourage buyers - that they won't allow me to repair and realtors told me they won't list my unit until the work is done. The board is deliberately making selling difficult FOR ME. They will like you... so long as you're not a writer who needs to have a web site to earn a living.

I think my contest will get the press and media involved and I'm hoping the exposure and public support will cause the condo board to start treating people like me better. But I'm not going to sugar coat how the board has treated me. And I'm not going to let what they have done to me happen to anyone who wins my condo, but I'm also not going to let them get away with how they have treated me.

Bullying and harassing writers smacks of Ray Bradbury's book about book burning, "Fahrenheit 451." And I just happen to have a copy of that book, autographed by him. I'll sell it to you for $152,000! (grin)